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JR's Blog: CM Punk..HBK Hunts..Nate Marquardt..NBA Lockout, Duh..WWEShop ships JR's Products Worldwide..Let's Fire Up Those Grills!

Posted: Jun 30th 2011 By: CMBurnham

Thanks for stopping by and paying us a visit. Knowing everyone is busy, let's kick this thing off...

We shipped out a bunch of orders last night and the rest will be delivered to our local Federal Express today. We've worked 7 days a week to catch up and today's efforts will finally get all the back orders on their way to their new homes.

Our business has grown to where we are having issues keeping up with the demand. We are going to keep the store closed temporarily until we can figure out how to handle the volume w/o adding to our infrastructure and bringing more people into the mix. Good help is hard to find and we are not motivated at this time to lease additional space and hire more folks. However, we do have some ideas on how to make things work and we are certainly NOT going out of business. Bear with us and much sooner than later we hope to have this matter addressed and can let you all know what's happening.

Until then, http://www.wweshop.com/Products/JimRoss can handle your needs no matter where you live in the USA or abroad. It would be nice if those that use aspects of this blog would let folks know of the WWEShop info, as a not so subtle hint.

CM Punk's show closing promo on MNR is still seemingly the talk of the wrestling biz. It was the best promo that I've heard on TV in years. Can't say it was the definitive 'best ever' but it ranks among the best that I can recall. Steve Austin, who cut some memorable promos in his day, was extremely impressed with Punk's work as were several other great promo men such as JBL and Mick Foley.

Normally when a talent is extremely passionate about a topic or an issue and speaks from their heart and not from a memorized document, the promo has a fighting chance at being stellar.

The first thing that must be in place for a promo to be great is that it must be natural ala from the heart and not from memory plus the talent must believe in what they are saying and not simply verbally filling time. Every promo must have a reason for taking place much akin to why most matches occur especially on PPV or in TV main events.

Talking on a wrestling show should be special, and that means all talk, and with the special meaning that all talk should have a purpose. Too much talk for talk's sake waters down the product, slows the process and disconnects with many viewers especially when it is obvious that the talents that are talking are not skilled and/or are simply reciting what they've memorized.

Punk says that he is leaving after the MITB Ladder Match PPV in Punk's hometown of Chicago in July. He also says he's leaving WWE with the WWE Title. Those two elements certainly should make for some compelling TV on Monday Night Raw. Whether Punk wins or doesn't win the WWE Title is a hill I choose not to die upon but Punk staying in WWE is something that I personally hope happens in some shape, form or fashion. punk has as much to say about that eventual decision as anyone and as we have seen if one can predict what Punk's going to do next then take those instincts to Vegas and make some big money.

Punk's promo was reminiscent of the Attitude Era but it was totally PG. PG can be edgy but it doesn't need to travel an uncreative, low road to be attitudinal or cool.

Very impressed with @shawnmichaels _ hunting show on the Outdoor Life Network Tuesday night. Slick production, beautiful scenery, a successful hunt plus we were able to see a different aspect of HBK's life away from a wrestling ring.

For those uninformed individuals who are railing on Shawn for actually harvesting animals please do your research. Many wildlife agencies WANT older animals harvested by hunters or the agencies themselves will do it because of over population of certain species. Plus, HBK feeds his family with a large part of the healthy meats that he gathers and donates a considerable amount of venison, etc to organizations that feed the needy. Shawn isn't killing 'Bambi' for those that are tweeting us @JRsBBQ.

It's impossible to answer questions from young people who want to attend college to prepare for a career in wrestling. A career in what area always helps to know. If one wants to be a performer, taking drama classes, acting in school productions, and obviously competing and being involved in as much athletic competition as one can even on the intramural level helps. MMA/amateur wrestling training is good as is a systematic approach in the gym with a trainer or with someone who knows their business. Much like acting, it's a 'body business' to some degree so bear that in mind. I do think that as time rolls on that it won't be so much about size as it is talent, character, and intellect. Just my two cents.

We were asked about the 'shelf life' of our products and the answer is one year on all of them. Obviously after a bottle is opened it must be refrigerated but it's good for a year.

Emailer....Yes I thought the emotional and passionate Joey Styles interview of a few years ago was excellent. Joey felt it, it wasn't scripted it, and he was allowed to express his true feelings and with the delivery that he wanted/needed to utilize. Best work ever in that realm by an announcer in my opinion.

Tweeter....I am not sure what the next DVD ala the HBK/Hitman one that we produced last week will be. Any one has any ideas send them to me here. The Von Erich/Freebird rivalry has been suggested by some readers. Obviously Rock/Austin would be cool. The possibilities are countless. BTW...the Shawn/Bret DVD will be released in mid October I am told. Lots of work is going into it as we speak.

Nate Marquardt and the Pennsylvania Athletic commission along with the New Jersey State Athletic Commission have parlayed the recent suspension of the talented Marquardt into a tragic, comedy of errors, bad communication, poor judgment and overall stupidity. This matter isn't only 'Nate the Great's' issue but the two athletic commissions in Pennsylvania and Jersey as well. When reading about this matter it is a legit eye roller and head shaker that so many poor decisions could be made by so many people involved in the matter. For Marquardt, even considering testosterone replacement therapy at age 32 sounds less than necessary and, on the surface, downright stupid. Not a good decision and certainly one would hope that Nate's 'advisor's' were not blessing adding more testosterone to Marquardt's system. I'm proud of the fighter for coming clean but we are still waiting for the respective athletic commissions to tell us how they dropped the ball.

Expect the NBA lockout to be announced any day this week. How stupid is that move? The VAST majority of the players and most of the teams CANNOT maintain their standard of living or their businesses with a lockout that lasts more than a year. This comes on the heels after building significant momentum with the Mavs finals win over the nWo Heat. The NBA had momentum and now they are jumping into the same pile of greed oriented manure as the NFL who actually seems to be getting close to a deal.

Great lesson for wrestlers to 'get' and that is always live within one's means and fully understand that the life doesn't last forever. Prepare for the future, examine one's exit, and always save your cash and pay Uncle Sam.

With our nation's economy being so fragile and with regular folks working diligently to make ends meet, how two major, entertainment franchises such as the NBA and the NFL, that can be consumed via FREE TV, can be so full of bad timing regarding money issues is beyond me. Ticket sales and sponsor dollars could take a significant hit and the goose that lays those golden eggs might not stay healthy forever.

I mentioned on Twitter Sunday night during the UFC show, which was excellent by the way, from Pittsburgh that Matt Mitrione is the type of athlete that intrigues me for a potential career in WWE. Catching a Mitrione type former NFL player in his early to mid 20's and seeing if he has the aptitude for WWE is an exciting process. Mitrione is entranced at age 32 in his UFC career but recruiting him 8-10 years ago would have been interesting.

Got the staples out of my gut Monday....feeling better....still a few weeks away from being 100% but feeling really good nonetheless. Follow us on Twitter @JRsBBQ and keep those Q&A's coming to our site. Thanks for every thing, especially supporting our efforts on WWEShop and be well.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R.